US President Joseph Biden said he did not ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a ceasefire during a long conversation the two leaders had on Saturday, Reuters reports.
"Today I had a long conversation with Netanyahu and it was a private conversation. I did not ask for a ceasefire," he told reporters in Washington.
The Israeli army announced today that five of its soldiers have been killed since Friday in fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Four soldiers were killed on Friday in the south of Gaza, and the fifth today in the north of the Palestinian territory, according to the army statement.
Since the beginning of the ground offensive of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip on October 27, 144 soldiers have been killed.
The war between the Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel began on October 7, with a Hamas attack on Israeli soil.
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The Palestinian Ministry of Health issued a statement today stating that at least 201 Palestinians were killed and 368 injured in Gaza in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
Since October 7, the total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in the impoverished belt has reached 20.258 people, with another 53.688 injured, the statement added.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas issued a statement today stating that it had lost contact with the group responsible for holding five Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli bombing, reports Reuters.
The group believes the hostages were killed during an Israeli raid, said Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas' armed wing Iz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
More than 90 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli bombing of two houses in Gaza City, Palestinian rescuers and health officials announced today.
Among them are 76 members of the Al-Mugrabi family.
Gaza Civil Defense Department spokesman Mahmoud Basal said the strike on a house in Gaza City was among the deadliest in the 12-week war between Israel and Hamas. He also published an incomplete list of the names of those killed from the Al-Mugrabi family.
Among those killed were Isam al-Mugrabi from the UN Development Program, his wife and their five children, writes AP.
"The loss of Isam and his family has deeply affected all of us. The UN and civilians in Gaza are not targets. This war must end," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Programme.
Israel bombed Gaza until late at night, and at least 18 people were killed in the attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the Wafa agency reported.
The BBC reports that during the night, Gaza was constantly exposed to attacks from the air, as well as from the ground. The Israeli army ordered people in another camp, Burei, to go south for a ground offensive.
The air attack also destroyed a water purification plant in Jabalia, in the north of Gaza.
The Israeli army announced today that soldiers in Gaza arrested several hundred people who are allegedly militants over the past week, of which more than 200 have been taken to Israel for further questioning.
As they stated, so far more than 700 people who are allegedly associated with the extremist Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been taken to Israeli prisons. Israel's top government rarely provides information on the arrests and interrogations of Palestinian men.
The UN Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution calling for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, without demanding an immediate ceasefire.
According to the authorities in Gaza, more than 20.000 Palestinians have been killed so far, and at least 53.000 wounded.
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In the Israeli bombing, 76 people from the Al-Mugrabi family were killed, Palestinian rescuers announced today.
Gaza Civil Defense Department spokesman Mahmoud Basal said the strike on a building in Gaza City was among the deadliest in the 12-week war between Israel and Hamas.
He also published an incomplete list of the names of those killed from the Al-Mugrabi family.
Among those killed were Isam al-Mugrabi of the UN Development Programme, his wife and their five children.
"The loss of Isam and his family has deeply affected all of us. The UN and civilians in Gaza are not targets. This war must end," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Programme.
According to the authorities in Gaza, more than 20.000 Palestinians have been killed so far, and at least 53.000 wounded.
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Israel bombed Gaza late into the night, and an attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least 18 people.
The BBC reports that during the night, Gaza was constantly exposed to attacks from the air, as well as from the ground.
The Israeli army ordered people in another camp, Burei, to go south for a ground offensive.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, without demanding an immediate ceasefire.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that at least 18 people were killed and dozens more injured in the bombing of Nuseirat, in central Gaza.
The airstrike also destroyed a water purification plant in Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, it added.
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Conflict between Israel and Hamas - 78th day.
Israel has continued to bomb the Gaza Strip, despite United Nations (UN) assessments that its military operation is creating huge obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that only ten percent of the aid needed reaches Gaza, reports Hina.
After several days of delay, the UN Security Council passed a watered-down resolution on Friday calling for steps to allow safe, unhindered and expanded humanitarian access to Gaza and conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said that the Security Council should focus more on the release of the hostages and that "the focus on aid mechanisms is unnecessary" as Israel allows the delivery of aid in the necessary volume.
According to Israeli data, 5.405 aid trucks with food, water and medical supplies have entered Gaza since the beginning of the war.
The United States and Israel oppose the ceasefire and say it would allow Hamas to regroup and re-arm.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, announced that more than 20 Palestinians have been killed and more than 53 wounded since the beginning of the war.
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